THANKFUL FOR GRACE AND MERCY

“In everything GIVE THANKS; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

The attitude of many human beings is to complain and murmur against God rather than be THANKFUL FOR GRACE and MERCY! This is indeed strange considering the Generosity of God’s Grace and the Immensity of His Mercy. When we think well, we will thank well. Why do some people complain, murmur, and query God concerning life’s issues? I guess it’s because the natural person sees things on the surface and from a very myopic, temporal perspective; whereas God sees the ‘heart’ of every matter and He operates on eternal dimensions. Moreover, there is a usurper ruling in the present evil world system – Satan. If not for Grace and Mercy, the devil would have wiped out the entire human race and sent billions to eternal damnation in a moment. Things would have been worse in the world if not that God stems the tide of evil through the prayers and actions of His Redeemed people – the Church!

Chief of all the blessings we should be thankful for is the salvation provided for us through Christ’s death and resurrection. Grace is free but not cheap. Salvation came with a cost – the cross. Christ died on the cross, bearing the punishment for our sin, and providing eternal life for all who believe. When I think of the significance of my salvation, I cannot but be immensely grateful. I am grateful to God for His sovereign grace and for the conviction that brought me to repentance. I am grateful for the power that gave me life and for the gift of faith. I am grateful for redemption, reconciliation, justification, sanctification, and glorification. I am thankful for all that salvation entails, in time and eternity! Jesus forgave and invited me to the Father’s Feast that I did not deserve to attend! How can I be anything but grateful if I understand the magnitude of that undeserved love? God’s Grace is sufficient for anything I go through. So, rather than query God for the earthquakes, Tsunamis, and plane crashes, I choose to be grateful for Grace and Mercy!  

Gratitude is one of the distinguishing traits of the redeemed human spirit. Deep down, we always sense the need to say “Thanks.” We know beyond a shadow of doubt, that we are indebted and accountable to a higher power than ourselves – God who made us. Everyone has this awareness, including those who refuse to honour or thank Him: “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them” (Rom.1:19). Yet they remain unthankful (v.21). Ingratitude is dishonourable by any reckoning, but to be wilfully ungrateful toward the Creator in whose Image we are made is to deny an essential aspect of our own humanity. Of course, we ought to be thankful on a human level to people who help make our lives better: to doctors for the health we enjoy; to farmers for the food we eat; to teachers for the learning we receive; and to scientists for the benefits of modern technology. But being thankful to people cannot satisfy my heart’s pondering of the vastness of the universe, the curiosities of creation, the complexities of the human being, the wonders of Grace, and Miracles of Mercy!

Beyond salvation, I am grateful to God for birthing and nurturing me through responsible parents; for a marriage and home with my best friend, lover, and life-partner; for three amazing children and team-members in our blessed family; for faithful friends; for shelter over my head, food on my table, and water in my cooler. Despite the troubles, trials, and tribulations in time; and despite the pressures, pains, and losses in this world, I choose to be grateful for God’s Grace and thankful for His Mercy! If not for His Grace and Mercy, I would have been consumed. I choose to count blessings and cultivate a heart of gratitude. The light in the window of my soul is my trust in a God that is faithful, loving, gracious, and merciful. Truly, I can never run out of reasons to thank Him!